The Goddess's child
by Misha Fleetfoot
Summary: Dana Tarsi is the daughter of the Great Goddess and a human man, though she doesn't know it. Daine discovers her Wild Magic and decides to teach her.
1. Dana's Wild Magic

13 years ago, the Great Mother Goddess and a human man fell in love. They met secretly, because, though mortal woman had had children of god's, there had never been a goddess having a human's child. They decided that it would be best for the child's sake to make her be born as a human, through a human women. The women was the man's new wife, who had only married nine months before the child was born. The child did not resemble either her mother or her father; she had black hair, while her parents were redheads and blondes. She was born with a powerful Gift, Wild Magic and a powerful goddess-type magic, which was not very obvious. For thirteen years her two other kinds of magic waited for the time when she could REALLY use them, not just passively. They might never have gotten that chance, but they did.  
  
Dana Tarsi crept through the bushes and grass. A bow was strapped onto her back, and there were knives in her belt, but she had no intention of using them on anyone. They were just for protection. What she was REALLY planning on doing, was talking to the horses. The Queen's Riders and the King's Own were stopping there on a trip north. The border was not yet secure, and Darkwood Hollow was the largest town in the area.  
  
Her hawk friend, Quick Wings, glided back.  
  
I don't understand why you want to do this, but the horses are tied up in a field nearby. There are a few guards, but they are on the opposite side of the field.  
  
"Good. Let's move." she replied.  
  
She crept up slowly, watching carefully. Seeing that Quick Wings was right, she nestled herself in a gap surrounded by bushes. Unusually, the plants moved aside as she walked through them, but jumped back as soon as she was through.  
  
Slowly she brought herself to a calm state of mind and let her thoughts go. She raced over the field as a horse, always remembering to keep a firm grip on who she was as a human. One time she had let go of that and she had almost become an animal in mind and gone mad. Since then, she had kept a firm grip on her humanity, her difference from her animal friends.  
  
The horses were happy to see her. One, a large strawberry roan, showed the mind-picture of scars and abuse. He said his name was Peachblossom, and his last master had abused him, before his current mistress had adopted him.  
  
Mistress? she asked in her mind.  
  
She's a knight. he said. She saved me from being made into horse meat, through one like you, who's human outside and People inside.  
  
People inside? I'm no animal. she thought to herself.  
  
Suddenly, she felt movement at the edge of her thoughts. Someone was coming! It was too late though. A short, redheaded woman, a slightly taller brown haired woman and a far taller pale haired woman were walking by. The older two seemed to feel her presence, and the two in armour were immediately plunging through the bushes.  
  
Alanna was on a walk through the horse field with her friends Daine and Keladry when she felt a mind at work in that area. A person, who's thoughts felt like Daine's, but weren't. A quick look at her friend revealed that she felt it too. She pointed to the bushes and she and Keladry drew their swords and plunged through, Daine following.  
  
To Alanna, the girl was normal looking. She touched her ember stone and saw that the girl had the Gift, but it hadn't been recently used. A closer look revealed that her Gift was golden coloured, with a look that indicated she was not completely trained.  
  
Daine saw something similar to Alanna's vision, but a different colour. The girl was surrounded by vines of copper, spreading in all directions, tangled up with each other and merging with others.  
  
When the three women plunged through the bushes, Dana knew she was in trouble. The short one in armour wore a crest of a gold lioness rearing on a red background. That would be Lady Alanna, the King's Champion. The tall one wore a crest too, indicating that she was also a knight. The middle one was harder to tell, but the other two were enough trouble already.  
  
"Who are you?" Keladry demanded. The girl didn't look dangerous, but looks could be deceiving, as her experience with Joren of Stone Mountain had revealed.  
  
"Dana T-Tarsi, sir." she replied, trying to sound as scared and unthreatening as possible.  
  
"How do we know if she's telling us the truth?" Alanna asked Daine.  
  
"There's a griffin nearby. I'll call her and see if she'll help." Daine replied.  
  
A minute later, a large bird with the head of an eagle and the body of a cat with feathers flew over and sat. It's feathers were bright gold, and it's claws were silver.  
  
"Good. Continue, Keladry."  
  
"Okay. Why were you hiding in the bushes near the horse field?" she asked.  
  
"I didn't mean anything bad, your Ladyship. I just wanted to talk to the horses." she answered.  
  
"Talk to the horses?" Alanna wondered out loud.  
  
"Then why are you hidden in this bush, and why do you have a bow, arrows and knives with you?"  
  
"These?" Dana pointed. "These is just for protection, your Ladyship, in case I is meeting any Immortals."  
  
"Well, I don't care. I'm taking you to Commander Raoul for the moment. He might know a few things about this area, and who you are."  
  
"Okay. Wait a minute. Raoul? Lord Raoul the giant killer?"  
  
"Yes, one and the same. Now let's get going." Keladry told her.  
  
"Wait a minute! What are you doing?" Daine asked. The girl was walking towards the griffin. That's fair crazy she thought. That girl'l get herself cut to bits.  
  
"I just wanna get a good look at her. I've never seen a griffin up close before."  
  
"She'll scratch you and cut you." Keladry said. "I should know. I took care of a baby one for almost a year. I still have the scars."  
  
"Oh, she won't. The bears don't."  
  
Amazingly, the girl was right. The griffin allowed the girl to comb her feathers and remove all of the dead ones.  
  
"Let's get going. I can call her back later if she wants you to clean her." Daine said, grabbing the girl by the shirt collar and pulling her forward.  
  
The two knights had firm grips on Dana's wrists, and she guessed that the usual trick of sliding her wrists out quickly after tapping the inside of their arms wouldn't work. They were most likely used to people trying to escape that way. She tried, anyway, and it didn't work.  
  
"Hello, Commander Raoul?" called Keladry once they had reached the tents.  
  
"Yes, Keladry?"  
  
"We found a girl lurking around the horse field. Daine brought a griffin in while we asked her what she was up to, but we thought you might want to find out a little more, and there are probably a few of the locals around here."  
  
"Bring her in." he replied.  
  
The Commander was discussing fort defenses with the mage Numair when Daine, Keladry and Alanna came in with a girl of about thirteen. Though she was already five foot eight, her unbalanced proportions of arms, legs and feet said that she had more growing left to do. She had pale skin, which was unusual for a commoner of this area, and long, black hair, which was even more unusual for this area. This was the first local female the Commander had seen with black hair. Most women were blondes or redheads.  
  
The girl sat down in a chair. The knights had taken her knives, bow and arrows and were in the process of searching for more weapons. Satisfied that she only carried the obvious, Daine released the girl's hands.  
  
When the girl had come in, Numair had nearly been blinded by the combined effect of the girl's Gift and Wild Magic. He knew immediately that, above all things, this girl should get a teacher for her Wild Magic immediately. Daine would just have to live with it.  
  
"Now, girl, I'm going to ask you a few simple questions. Alanna, Keladry and Daine told me that your intentions weren't hostile and you weren't planning on stealing anything, but we'd like to know a few things about you. It's not every day that we find a girl in the bushes near our fields."  
  
"Okay." she replied, thinking, the nobility must surely be mad.  
  
"Who are your parents, and what is their employment?"  
  
"My father is Owen Tarsi, and my mother's Elaine Tarsi. My mother's the local healer. She's pretty good at it, university educated, but she couldn't bear to live in the city. My father runs our farm. He's really good with animals." she answered.  
  
"So you are Dana Tarsi. Do you have the Gift?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, my lord. I have it stronger than mother. She's been training me, and she's been saving money to send me to the Royal University. She says there's still a lot I can learn."  
  
"Do you have Wild Magic?" he asked.  
  
"No! Not that I know of, that is." she answered.  
  
"But you do." Numair interrupted. "And strong enough to need training in it. Have you ever noticed that animals that won't obey other people obey you? Or that animals that have been around you a long time are smarter in a human way than other animals? Or even that animals that you know well, you can talk directly to?"  
  
"I guess." she answered.  
  
"You do, and you need training. I think that Daine can train you in Wild Magic, and you'll probably be able to learn some things with the Gift on the way. I'll talk to your parents about it. Where do you live?"  
  
"We live on the farm just out of town. The one with the big stable."  
  
"Okay. I'll see if I can talk to your parents about training."  
  
this is the first chapter. More coming later. 


	2. Lesson Planning

Numair and Daine rode over to the Tarsi farm the next day. Dana was working with the animals at that time, and so she didn't see them. Their first view of the farm was that it was unusually large for a commoner's farm in this part of the forest.  
  
Maria Tarsi, Dana's mother by adoption, (though she didn't know it), was working in the garden when she saw these two ride up. She had enough of a Gift to see that the large man was a very powerful mage. The woman next to him had power also, but it was subtler. It obviously wasn't the Gift.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked.  
  
"I am Numair Salmalin, and this is my student and assistant, Daine Sarrasri, the Wild Mage."  
  
"And what are you doing here, sir? Don't mind my question, but it's not every day a powerful mage comes visiting our humble farm. What do you want?"  
  
"It's about your daughter." Daine replied.  
  
"Which one? Is it Anna, Dana or Emmi? Have they done anything bad? They will work off any damage they've done to your property."  
  
"It's about Dana, and she hasn't done anything bad."  
  
"Yet." muttered Maria. Her children were well known around town as to being the ones who were usually behind any of the smaller problems. Their tricks never really hurt anyone, or broke anything, but some people thought it inappropriate that her daughters wore men's clothes and ran around town when they weren't working on the farm. Add that to the fact that Dana was skilled with a bow, and you almost had a scandal on your hands.  
  
"Your daughter has the Gift, am I right?" Numair told her.  
  
"Yes. She has a very powerful gift. However, I don't think she's that interested in training it and becoming a powerful mage. She prefers working with animals."  
  
"Well, that's why I'm here. Daine and I have found that your daughter..."  
  
"Mother! Do you know where the currycomb is? I can't seem to find it!" yelled Dana, coming out of the stable. "Oh." she continued, seeing Numair. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Oh, that was what I was getting to. Maria Tarsi, your daughter Dana has very strong Wild Magic, and she needs training. I don't think you have anyone around here who can train her, so Daine has volunteered to become her teacher." Numair told Maria.  
  
"Teacher? But don't you move around a lot? She'd have to leave home."  
  
"Yes, I know. However, she told me that you were planning to send her to the Royal University when she was older. Just think of it as her going a little early." Daine answered.  
  
"But, how can I pay you for it? It would cost a lot of money to teach her, and it could hold you back in your own work." Maria answered.  
  
"I have enough money to pay for the basic costs of instructing her: books, time lost from my employment and equipment. You may have to send some money to us for the first few years, in order to pay for her food, clothes and shelter, but if she learns as quickly as I did, she could start working for the king within a few years and pay it back." Daine told the woman.  
  
"Well, I guess so. Dana!" she called. Dana came over, having heard the most of the conversation.  
  
"Yes, mother?" she asked.  
  
"As you seem to know, these people wish to instruct you in your wild magic. Do you wish to become Daine's student?" she asked.  
  
"You can teach me how to talk to animals?" Dana asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Of course I'll come. I'll pack my things. But, mother..." she trailed off.  
  
"Yes, dear?"  
  
"When can I visit you?" she asked.  
  
"That won't be much of a problem for a while. Whenever we're in the area we can arrange a visit." Daine answered.  
  
"Then I guess it's settled. How long do I have before you continue north?" she asked.  
  
"We were planning on spending a week here, and then continuing north. I think that our lessons can start right away, though."  
  
"That's fine with me. Can I bring some of my animals with me when we go north?" Dana asked.  
  
"Err, what animals?" Daine asked.  
  
"My hawk friend, horse, dog and mouse friend."  
  
"I guess you could. Do they cause trouble?" Numair asked.  
  
"Not that much, sir. My horse, Goldenstar, can fight people like a warhorse, and my dog and mouse friends stay out of the way a lot."  
  
"I guess you can then. When I first arrived at the palace, I couldn't sleep properly unless I slept with animals."  
  
"Okay!" she yelled.  
  
that's my second chapter. more to come, hopefully, but I don't have much time on my hands until the Xmas holidays. send in your reviews! 


	3. The Dragons' Warning

Dana ran to the camp the next day. Daine was waiting outside her tent.  
  
"There you are. Now, today I want to see how far you can communicate with an animal that knows you well." she told Dana.  
  
"How far?"  
  
"Yeah. Now, I think your hawk here would do the trick. I'll walk away with her on my hand. What sort of signal should we use for her to tell me that she can't hear you anymore?"  
  
"Why doesn't she just tell you? I mean, you CAN talk to animals, right? Or did you lose that ability recently?"  
  
"I never thought of that."  
  
Daine walked away after Dana told Quickwings what she wanted her to do.  
  
For the first ten minutes or so, Quickwings was strong in her mind. Then it started to get harder to maintain contact. Finally Quickwings dropped out all together.  
  
Dana waited for Daine to come back. When she did, she was smiling.  
  
"Well, I've determined that your current "range" with Quickwings is about one and a half miles. It may be more with animals you know well than ones you don't. What's that?" she suddenly looked up at the sky. There was a great hole in it, and suddenly several flying lizards came out of it. Or that was what they looked like.  
  
"Dragons." Daine muttered.  
  
"Greetings, mortal." the largest one said to Dana.  
  
"What can I do for you dragons?" Daine asked.  
  
"There are problems in the realms of the gods. Several more mages have begun trapping spirits and using them as an energy source. Not just human spirits, but animals and immortals as well. There are even a few of the minor animal gods that have been taken." he told her seriously.  
  
"And why do you seek my help?" Daine asked.  
  
"Because you helped a dragon before, mortal. The gods need a vessel, and the great gods must not leave the Divine Realms for fear that something will happen."  
  
"I thought they agreed not to bother me anymore, that I would live my life as a human in peace." Daine told them.  
  
"That may be so, but they only ask you that you help find the Daughter of the Goddess. The Goddess requires that she help stop these problems."  
  
"Alanna? I don't know if she wants to do this kind of thing anymore." Daine said.  
  
"No! Not Alanna. This girl is younger, and truly godborn, as you are. Half goddess, half human. All we know is that she is in Tortall and that only she can stop the mages. For there is a power greater than them at work. She cannot leave where she is right now, but she is using these mages as a vessel for her power."  
  
"You don't mean. GULP. Her again, do you?" Daine asked.  
  
"Yep." said the smallest dragon.  
  
"What do you want us to do?" Dana asked.  
  
"Not you. Her. You're just her student. You wouldn't understand. Or would you...." the large green one told her.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"We want your king to send an expedition to the land across the Emerald Ocean, where these mages are. There is a very strange civilisation there."  
  
"Who should be a part of this expedition?" Daine asked.  
  
"You, the Daughter, powerful mages and knights. Maybe some sailors, tradesmen, priests and priestesses." they told her.  
  
"How will I find this 'daughter'?"  
  
"You will find her. You must, by midwinter of this year, or the expedition will fail. The Daughter has strong, strange magic, and she is not an adult yet. Those are your clues. You also have this to work with." he said, tossing her a necklace, made of some strange metal with different gemstones that went dark when she held them.  
  
"What do these do?" she asked, very interested.  
  
"In the hands of one with the Gift, they will glow. If their magic is other than the Gift, or they have no magic, it will darken. All you have to do is ask any child you know has magic like the Gift to touch them. If they don't light up, you've got a match. If they light up, try someone else."  
  
"I'll have to do this to every young girl with the Gift in the kingdom?" she asked.  
  
"Not every one. Don't go searching her out. She'll find you on her own. One other way to identify her is that even when her Gift "should" have been drained, she can still use it. Good luck."  
  
"What if I fail?" Daine asked them.  
  
"That is not even an option."  
  
With that they took off. The hole in the sky filled in like it had never existed.  
  
"Come on, Dana. Let's tell Numair."  
  
that's my third chapter. sorry if it's been a little slow so far. i had to do it that way. after this, it'll get better. i guarantee it. 


End file.
